Boston Bruins 2015-2016

[Monty22 821]

I honestly wasn't expecting them to even be this competitive this season. You can call it whatever you want, but it's a rebuild at the end of the day. Also agree with Chadd- curious to see what the deadline brings. I'd rather see them be sellers this season with an eye towards the future.

[Steve_v3 275]

They have no # 1 defencemen right now. Chara and Seidenberg aren't top players anymore and Krug has yet to show he is. He may never be because of his size.

Trading Boychuk last year was a big mistake. Not that he is a superstar, but he is a lot more dependable than anyone on the Bruins right now.

It would've been great if they could've packaged Erickson and something else and gotten Jones from Nashville.

Heck anything can happen, Tuukka could stand on his head and some of their young players magically play like top end defencemen. Not likely.

[chippa13 1844]

Nashville wasn't going to take a guy in his 30's in exchange for Jones. They wanted to trade youth for youth. It would have taken somebody like Pastrnak to get Jones and that wasn't going to happen.

[Steve_v3 275]

Nashville wasn't going to take a guy in his 30's in exchange for Jones. They wanted to trade youth for youth. It would have taken somebody like Pastrnak to get Jones and that wasn't going to happen.

Obviously it would've taken a lot more then just Erickson. I don't know if they would even have enough, it was just wishful thinking.

[chippa13 1844]

I think they could have put something together but that would have meant trading away some of what they think it the future of the team. I have a sneaking suspicion that Subban will be dangled either at the deadline or the draft.

[Steve_v3 275]

I agree. I think Subban will be gone before next season. They are loaded with goalie prospects.

They really need to find a way fix the defense.

[Jason Harris 31]

In both points and plus/minus, Chara is still a Top Twenty defenseman; whether that is a 1 or 1A, I don't know. It's just the bar was so high for so long, it's noticeable that he's not Top Three or Five. But next year, your point will probably be correct, because he'd likely be a number two for many teams by then.

You know who's showing growth this latest call up? Trotman. He's making a lot better decisions than he'd done previously

By the way, what a fun game last night, and such a crummy way to lose on a shot going two feet wide.

[chippa13 1844]

That was a heck of a deflection. If only Spooner could have tucked in his partial break, he abused Lundqvist on that one.

[stick9 881]

A little late to the party on the Jones/johansen deal. When I heard about the deal I said, that's how you move a younger potential star player. For example, would anyone have really griped about dealing Hamilton if it were for johansen or even Jones for that matter, I wouldn't. I would have been cool with Nurse & Yakapov.

They need to add a steady youngish top 4 defender, preferably someone with top pairing potential. I read earlier that Dumba was on the block, not sure that fixes things, but it would be a nice addition of talent. Also, Brandon Carlo looked pretty good at the WJC. I dont think he fixes things either but maybe he upped his value.

[chippa13 1844]

I don't think the haul of a first and two seconds was a bad deal for Hamilton. He's not exactly setting the world on fire up in Calgary. We really can't judge last summer's deals until we see how those 3 first rounders pan out.

[60PlusWinger 82]

Anyone here think it's realistic that Shattenkirk may end up in Boston? They need a top 4 D man obviously and Eriksson would be key piece to move if they don't want to re-sign him. The Bruins also have SJ first rounder from the Martin Jones trade.

[Chadd 916]

I don't think the haul of a first and two seconds was a bad deal for Hamilton. He's not exactly setting the world on fire up in Calgary. We really can't judge last summer's deals until we see how those 3 first rounders pan out.

Exactly, those trades were long term investments. The question is if they made good choices with those picks

[stick9 881]

I don't think the haul of a first and two seconds was a bad deal for Hamilton. He's not exactly setting the world on fire up in Calgary. We really can't judge last summer's deals until we see how those 3 first rounders pan out.

Meh, that's a logical approach and probably the same approach Chiarelli used when he dealt Boychuck for two 2nd's. The problem in those deals is you are moving someone who has shown they can play at the NHL level for a slew of unknowns. I'd argue, a long term approach is fine when you are rebuilding or when you have the talent to fills the holes. The Boston Bruins are neither rebuilding nor do they have the talent to fill those holes.

Of the three pick (#15, #45 & #52) only Senyshyn taking with the 15th pick looks like he could compete for a roster spot next season. The other two, Karlsson & Lauzon are at best a few years away from competing for spots.

I'll take proven NHL talent over prospect or picks any day which is why I think Nashville & Columbus got it right.

[chippa13 1844]

Rebuilding takes more than a summer or a season. The Bruins have 13 players on expiring contracts this season and they have a decent level of control over most of the ones that I anticipate resigning, with only Krug being a big ticket. Eriksson will most likely be dealt at the deadline unless he is shockingly resigned prior to that (even though he is having his best season in a few years).

The team is in the process of completely remaking their 3rd and 4th lines and are also revamping their backend. They freed up a bunch of future cap space by shipping out Boychuk, Hamilton, and Lucic. You've got kids coming along in Spooner, Pastrnak, Vatrano (might still be a year off from sticking), and Ferraro. Trotman is looking much more comfortable lately and he could develop into that next shutdown guy.

The only real problem I have with their cap situation going forward is the McQuaid contract. I can't for the life of me understand why they gave him 4 years. That 4/5/6 defenseman shouldn't be locked up for that long, especially with his injury history.

[chippa13 1844]

Interesting to see that Sweeney is so forthright in his desire to get a deal done to keep Eriksson in Boston.

http://www.tsn.ca/trade-talk-b-s-trying-to-lock-up-eriksson-1.427005

[Jason Harris 31]

Particularly this season, I've thought Loui had the bum luck of being the centerpiece of the Sequin trade, because he could never live up to that; had he been a free agent, we would have said he was one of their best pick ups in years.

[Steve_v3 275]

I really hope they don't resign him. He's played very well this year, but they have a glaring need at defense. I think they should move him and free up cap space to hopefully bring in a defenseman over the summer.

[Jason Harris 31]

In 5th place while 11-12-2 at home and 15-5-3 on the road.

Exactly where they need to be to win four Game 7's on the road....

[chippa13 1844]

That really is a perplexing statistic.

[stick9 881]

Rebuilding takes more than a summer or a season. The Bruins have 13 players on expiring contracts this season and they have a decent level of control over most of the ones that I anticipate resigning, with only Krug being a big ticket. Eriksson will most likely be dealt at the deadline unless he is shockingly resigned prior to that (even though he is having his best season in a few years).

The team is in the process of completely remaking their 3rd and 4th lines and are also revamping their backend. They freed up a bunch of future cap space by shipping out Boychuk, Hamilton, and Lucic. You've got kids coming along in Spooner, Pastrnak, Vatrano (might still be a year off from sticking), and Ferraro. Trotman is looking much more comfortable lately and he could develop into that next shutdown guy.

The only real problem I have with their cap situation going forward is the McQuaid contract. I can't for the life of me understand why they gave him 4 years. That 4/5/6 defenseman shouldn't be locked up for that long, especially with his injury history.

I don't like turning good young players who've proven they can play at this level in futures. Draft picks are great and all, but there are more misses then hits. So there is a chance they end up trading Boychuk & Hamilton for nothing more than a trips to the podium.

That's not good asset management, even if the goal was long term because it hurt the team in the short term, eating up years off your current core. Which BTW is built to win somewhat now-ish.

[chippa13 1844]

With the cap crunch that the B's were in, Boychuk or Marchand were going to be the guys gone that summer. There was no way around it. As for Hamilton, I was never a fan of his game (as much as I wanted to be). He was a turnover machine, usually unforced, and refused to make any use of his size. Had the Bruins given Hamilton the deal he got from Calgary then I would have been upset.

Is the draft a roll of the dice? Sure, but there is a pretty darn good chance that a first round pick will become something for your team, be it a future roster player or an asset to be used.

At some point every team is going to go thru phases like this. Heck, even the Red Wings who are arguably the best in the business at restocking and retooling while still being a top 8 team are having their struggles right now. Are they wasting what is left of Zetterberg and Datsyuk or are they getting some great mentoring of their next crop? A team can't just focus on the prime years of one "generation" of your team. There must always be an eye toward what will come next and you're always going to have some transitional/rebuilding type seasons from time to time.

[60PlusWinger 82]

There are more things that influence signings, trades, departures than what is on paper. Many behind the scenes things going on in terms of past present and future goals but most of all chemistry. To begin to think that we know them all from the outside is foolish. It's easy to point fingers and say this move was stupid or that move was great or this player is going to turn into whatever.

Loui Eriksson will most likely be gone at the deadline of course rumors have D men like Marco Scandella, Matt Dumba, Jonas Brodin, Sami Vatanen, Jacob Trouba? Who knows but it'd be nice if they packaged something together with their abundance of trade assets to get a young AND right now guy on the team. I'm not super excited about Vatanen if they go that route though.

[chippa13 1844]

A third period comeback, huh, that's a new one.

[Jason Harris 31]

Malcolm Subban suffered a fractured larynx off a shot to the throat during warmups. From the picture, it looks like he doesn't wear the hanging plastic piece off the bottom of the mask. Neither does Tuukka.

I don't understand that, because I've played a lot of goalie the past decade, and while I notice lack of fit about some of the pads -- it's joint equipment to be used when regular goalies don't show -- I don't ever notice the dangler.

[chippa13 1844]

I don't think there are any current NHLers who use that extra hanging plastic piece. I've wondered these days why they stopped wearing them.